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Synopsis

In rural Japan during the late 1800s, Appare Sorrano is an awkward but brilliant inventor obsessed with building steam-powered vessels to bridge distant places and ultimately reach the far side of the moon. Self-taught from scientific volumes, he crafts devices of many kinds and nurtures an audacious goal to cross oceans and skies. A sequence of mishaps leaves Appare stranded at sea on his tiny steamship alongside Kosame Ishikki, a capable yet fearful samurai assigned to temper Appare’s eccentricities. Their rescue by a massive steamliner carries them to Los Angeles, penniless and without a clear plan. Facing limited options, they enter the Trans-America Wild Race: a contest that allows Appare to construct his own automobile and offers Kosame a chance to win funds to return home. As they confront rival competitors and unpredictable hazards across the wilderness, their expedition tests their skills, convictions, and the scope of their ambitions without revealing key outcomes.